What Broke My Shelf With the Mormon Church
I recently wrote an email to a friend who said he was on the fence with the Mormon church. I told him that I'd be happy to share with him what broke my shelf with the church and he agreed. This is what I wrote him and I've done edits for this audience.
Hi <friend>. Thought it'd be easier to email you about this. After I was mistreated after my divorce, I had stopped reading the doctrine and the Book of Mormon. After a time, I came across the ex mormon community and particularly this podcast, Mormon Stories. Pretty much the first 3 videos is what started breaking my shelf. Here are the links...
After that, I came across information on the church's website that further caused doubts. For example, the translation process being presented as more of a dictation process after Joseph Smith looked at a rock in a hat. I grew up being told it was a direct translation from gold plates using the Urim and Thummim. I also learned the Urim and Thummim was more of a Yes or No device used in ancient times and not a translation device at all. And things just snowballed after that, notably...
- The Pearl of Great Price's actual translation having nothing to do with Abraham and Moses at all...but funerary rites of ancient Egypt.
- Joseph Smith had been tricked once to translate plates that were made up (see Kinderhook plates)
- Joseph Smith had multiple wives and even married the wives of men that were already married or had been sent on missions... Did Some of Joseph Smith's Wives Practice Polyandry? - Saints Unscripted
- Joseph Smith married a 14 year old and some at the time said Emma had seen her have sex with Joseph in a barn (Fannie Alger). Its also said by some that when Oliver Cowdery tried to expose him, he was excommunicated.
- The whole reason the Nauvoo Expositor was destroyed was likely because Joseph's polygamy and polyandry that was going to be exposed
- There has been a pattern of the church excommunicating people over the years that have tried to expose these things about them...why would they do that if they were actually true and now being shown publicly on their website?
- There is circumstantial evidence that young girls could be seen as being trafficked to Brigham, Joseph, and other priesthood holders. I attached an AI overview about it you can read (see my blog post about it).
- The Book of Mormon itself is very suspect. First there are lots of ideas that were more 18th century ideas and there are things mentioned in it that would have nothing to do with Ancient American history (i.e. horses and certain metals). Not to mention that the DNA of native americans has been proven not to be of Jewish decent at all, but of Asian ancestry crossing a land bridge to the north. Unironically, the man who discovered that and wrote a book about it was excommunicated. I have his book, Losing a Lost Tribe by Simon G Southerton. The church did change the intro to the Book of Mormon because of his findings also.
- Stories that appear prominently in the Book of Mormon are likely based on something from the 1800s. Lehi's dream is actually based on a dream that Joseph Sr had and it appears that Joseph Smith just included. King Benjamin's may have been inspired directly by a Methodist preacher's sermon around that time.
- I had a couple of useful discussions with ChatGPT on the Book of Mormon, you can read about that on my blog...
- https://billthekirkmusings.
blogspot.com/2025/07/chat-gpt- questionwas-book-of-mormon. html - https://billthekirkmusings.
blogspot.com/2025/07/chat-gpt- question-what-1800s- influences.html - I am concerned about some of the ways the modern church is getting in trouble legally, for example... hiding money in shell accounts, sexual abuse settlements. Here are a couple of articles...
- Mormon church rocked by child sexual abuse allegations in California | California | The Guardian
- LDS Church Sex Abuse Settlements
- Mormon church fined over scheme to hide $32 billion investment fund behind shell companies
- SEC.gov | SEC Charges The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Its Investment Management Company for Disclosure Failures and Misstated Filings
There were definitely other reasons and I continue to learn more as I keep digging into it. These are the core things though and I think they will help you. Hopefully we won't lose our friendship over this. I never set out to think badly or be against the Mormon church...but after I learned what I did, I can't help but to be now. It took so little too to unravel the Mormon truth claims in my mind logically...to think for myself about them...and I am convinced the leaders know the truth but still spout lies and do cover-ups as they can. And now there's a whole controversy about the church paying influencers to counter things and have people bear their testimonies. Lds Church Paying Influencers | TikTok It's CRAZY!
Hope this helps.
Thanks <friend>,
Kirk
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